Technical Features

October 2024

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Figure 1: MOSFET channel punch-through showing outputs from previous SPICE simulators vs. QSPICE

QSPICE: A Mission to Get SPICE Right

Siddharth Mohan, design engineer, Qorvo

Qorvo’s QSPICE™ simulator for analog and mixed-signal simulation provides power designers with the tools to confidently evaluate their designs. Free to use, QSPICE improves SPICE basics, supports large amounts of digital logic without performance penalties, and delivers the speed and accuracy needed for rel

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Date:

11/29/2024

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Figure 1: Replacing conventional, discrete power conversion with power modules throughout the vehicle provides significant cost and weight savings in EVs

High-Density Power Modules Simplify and Downsize EV Power System Design

Greg Green, Director of Automotive Marketing, Vicor

The electrification of the automobile is presenting new challenges for power system designers in achieving the highest power density at the lowest weight possible, eliminating compromises in vehicle range and overall performance. Designers of power delivery networks (PDNs) are also tasked with designing safe, effici

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Date:

10/31/2024

Using TTape™ Distributed Temperature Monitoring helps rapidly identify hotspots across the entire battery pack.

How to Boost Safety and Lifespan of EV Lithium-Ion Batteries

Littelfuse

The rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) brings increased focus on lithium-ion battery safety and lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries are the dominant choice for electric vehicles (EVs) with their high power density. Yet, they pose serious risks such as thermal runaway—where a cell overheats, leading to po

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Date:

10/08/2024

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How AI is Challenging Data Center Infrastructures

Aditya Jain, Sr. Director, onsemi

Driven by emerging applications including cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI / ML), the energy consumed by data centers is very significant and set to grow rapidly to meet user demands. According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers consumed 460

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Figure 1: A modern approach to high efficiency AC/DC conversion

Silicon Carbide Power Switches in Data Center Power Supplies

Mike Zhu and Aparna Kumar, Qorvo

It is a credit to the community of designers and engineers working to increase efficiency, that according to the IEA, data center energy consumption only increased 20-70% between 2015 and 2022, while workload increased 340%. However, limits are approaching for power density in data centers with cabinets slated to

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Figure 1: Conventional wireless charging (Tx on the left, Rx on the right) requires multi-stage conversion

Wirelessly Charging the IoT

Yaser Abuzarifa, Field Application Engineer, Fabrizio Caramaschi, Head of Engineering, and Igor Spinella, CEO and Founder, Eggtronic

As the prevalence and diversity of IoT systems grow, the need to ensure these devices are continuously powered has never been so important. This isn’t just for remote ultra-low-power sensors that need to run for years on miniscule energy budgets, but also for more powerful and more critical systems. And fo

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Figure 1: Airborne substances can be identified by their absorption of IR at specific frequencies. The above show the absorption spectrum for several chemicals found in the air, including CO2, NOX and methane

Meeting Air-Quality Legislation without Increased HVAC Use Demands More Efficient IoT CO2 Sensors

Neill Ricketts, Chair of the ultra-low-power CO2 sensor developer, GSS

Legislation on air quality has recently been added to the statute books of multiple states including California and Massachusetts, and is being considered in several others, as well as at the federal level. The legislation sets a maximum in-building CO2 concentration and requires air to be replaced regularly, bu

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Figure 1: Typical thermal stack of a baseplate-less module, and RthJA distribution

A Winning Combination of AlN Ceramic Substrate and SiC MOSFETs

Ainhoa Puyadena Mier, Paul Salmen, Torsten Methfessel, Meng-Meng Zhou, Infineon Technologies

Wide bandgap silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as a crucial semiconductor, particularly in applications that demand high power density and efficiency, such as EV charging, solar inverters, or energy storage systems. Its key advantages over traditional silicon devices include higher breakthrough electric field, la

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Gaps in Battery Data are Jeopardising Energy Transition

Jean-Marc Guillou, Socomec

The energy transition is in many ways a story of the rise of batteries. A recent International Energy Agency reportnoted that delivering COP28 climate targets will depend on our ability to scale up battery deployment, which could treble renewable energy capacity and double the pace of energy efficiency improvements by

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Figure 1: Query screen to help operator plan electricity traffic on the network

How Advances in AI Could Remove the Roadblocks to Renewable Electricity

Amir Cohen, CEO of EGM

In the Netherlands, a solar power boom isbeing undermined by a grid capacity crunch, hindering its progress on climate change targets. Problems connecting to the grid are also holding up the energy transition withsome 930 gigawatts of renewable generating capacity currently held up in grid interconnection qu

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Date:

10/01/2024

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Figure 1: Single Hydrogen Molecule

Hydrogen Power 101

Jayant Deshpande, Sales Manager, Engineered Solutions Manager at Kohler

There is a worldwide imperative to reduce our reliance on carbon-based fuels and switch to clean energy. Consequently, hydrogen has emerged as a promising solution to address escalating demands for sustainable energy and efficient operations. Understanding the basics of hydrogen is essential in analyzing the po

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Date:

10/01/2024